The authentic lobster bisque… with my personal twists
Let’s define first what a bisque is exactly, as this term
is commonly applied to crustacean (lobster…), but also to vegetable (tomato) or
even to game (squabs…) soups. In fact, the bisque refers first to the latter,
since the book Le cuisinier françois already mentioned in 1651 a bisque
made of young pigeons… and decorated with rooster combs! Do you want to try it?
Now, it essentially applies to crustaceans such as lobster, crab, crayfish,
langoustine… although it has become very trendy to use it for vegetable soups
where the vegetables are cooked twice, first as such, and second as a soup. As
a matter of fact, this 2-step cooking refers directly to the etymology of the
word as bisque would originally mean cooked twice. Yes, exactly like biscuit! Although
there are versions mentioning other origins of the word, none of those really contradicts
the double cooking version.
Cooked twice, the (crustacean) bisque is also a byproduct as
it is made from the heads, shells and other trims not used in the main
crustacean recipe. You don’t buy a lobster to make a bisque, you make a bisque
because you buy a lobster for another recipe using the animal’s noble parts,
the tail and the claws. This is why I mentioned below the bisque as a cheap
dish, although it is made from an obviously expensive purchase. A French
humorist said once that artichoke was a dish for the poor as there was more in
the plate after than before… But for the bisque, lobster would have been too!
To make a good bisque, those are the principles that I
follow:
(1) I use live
lobster(s),
(2) I don't use any
commercial stocks (no merit, I hate those), but just the lobster boiling water
(see recipe below) aromatized with onion, vegetables, spices, herbs, and
eventually the lobster parts...
(3) I recuperate
preciously all the organs (tomalley, coral...) and liquids rendered by the
lobster(s) all around the process: if any, this is the secret of a tasty bisque!
(4) I don't use any "meat" from the tail or the
claws, just the head and the shells. Why use those noble parts while you obtain
a very tasteful soup without those? Furthermore, if you mind my humble personal
opinion, a well-made bisque has more flavors than any noble part by itself. Of
course, nothing prevents you from adding, for instance, a claw or a tail
medallion as a decorative item in the bisque, but please, don’t blend them.
Furthermore, I encourage you to use a ladle of bisque as a sauce with, for
instance, a lobster tail poached in melted sea-weed butter. Just emulsify it before
serving to create a foamy aspect or complete it with crème fraîche and lemon… and
call it a sauce homardine!
Little tip: don’t pitch the lobster boiling water after you
use some of it to moisten your bisque. Put into it the shell and shell purée
from the broth, and keep it in the fridge and next time you cook pasta, use
this lobster flavored water, after straining of course!
|
Levels of difficulty |
Cost |
Preparation |
Resting |
Cooking |
|
n |
$$$ |
5 minutes + 30 minutes for the bisque |
|
5 minutes + 15 minutes for the bisque |
|
Ingredients
4 servings
§
1
medium (~2.5 lbs.) or 2 small (<1.5 lb.) lobsters* For the
court-bouillon: §
1
shallot clove (or ¼ onion) roughly chopped §
1
stalk of celery, chopped §
1
carrot, chopped §
Herbs
(thyme, bay leaves…) §
Spices
(cloves, pepper, piment d’Espelette, allspice, saffron…) For the bisque: §
1
shallot clove (or ¼ onion) roughly chopped §
1
or 2 garlic cloves, crushed §
1
stalk of celery, chopped §
1
carrot, chopped § Herbs (thyme, bay leaves…) § Spices
(pepper, piment d’Espelette, allspice, saffron…) §
1
tbsp of neutral oil and 1 tbsp of butter (or 2 tbsp. of olive oil if you want
to give it a Mediterranean flavor) §
1
shot of Cognac §
1
glass of dry white wine §
1
tbsp of tomato paste (optional**) §
1
tsp of achiote (optional**) §
1
tbsp of butter (or 2 tbsp. of crème fraîche) §
Fleur
de sel or sea salt (optional and in any case in moderate quantity) Helpful utensils: §
a
wooden pestle §
a
steamer basket §
a
chinois strainer * sorry for the
sexist comment, but preferably a female for its coral ** in case of a
male or a female with no coral, to reinforce the bisque’s orange-red color.
Ftr, in French bisque is also a color named after the soup. |
Instructions §
To
kill your lobster, the less painful way for the animal is to stud a sharp
meat knife in the center of its head. If you are reluctant to do that, put
your lobster for ½ hour in your freezer to numb it before killing it… or ask
your fish monger. You could also plunge it ½ into boiling water, but -and I
will not open any debate here !- this practice is now forbidden in
restaurants of certain countries, Switzerland, France… among others §
After
you kill your lobster, detach the claws and the head from the tail, recuperate
preciously the tomalley (green), the roe or coral (red or black depending on
its “status”) and all the liquid rendered §
Cut
the head in two and remove and pitch the sandbag, looking like a small
plastic bag located at the top of the head §
Remove
and pitch the (bitter) gills covering the small leg joints §
Reserve
in the fridge the solid (shells, small legs and the meaty cells on which they
are attached…) and liquid (tomalley, coral, liquid…) parts kept from the head §
Poach
the tail and the claws for respectively 2/3 minutes and 4/5 minutes (depending
on their size), in boiling water that you will have previously aromatize with
the court-bouillon ingredients, or others, detailed on the left column §
Remove
the tail and the claws from the boiling water, cool them down in iced water, remove
their shells, then reserve them in the fridge for another dish or for
completing/decorating your bisque (totally optional as a real bisque is normally
just served as is) § Keep on simmering the court-bouillon (you will use it for your bisque) 1st cooking : §
Take
all the solid parts of the head, and the tail and claw shells, and cut and
crush them roughly, and once again recuperate all the precious rendered
liquid and substances §
Remove
the shell from the tail and from the claws and reserve the meat for another
dish or for completing/decorating your bisque (totally optional as a real
bisque is simply served as is) §
Put
the butter/neutral oil (Britton way and generally my way) or the olive oil (Mediterranean
way) in a pot and heat it (moderately in case of butter), add all the crushed
head parts in the pot and let them caramelize in the oil/butter. The smell becomes
then totally addictive §
Add
roughly chopped onions and/or shallots, carrot segments, celery stems, crushed
garlic cloves and mix them with the lobster shells, coating them with the fat §
Add
the herbs (thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, sage, oregano…) and spices (ground
pepper, piment d’Espelette, allspice, cloves, saffron…) depending on your
availabilities and preferences; but don’t add salt as the lobster parts and
water are already salty, plus your broth will reduce, and mix thoroughly the
whole §
Add
a shot of Cognac and flambé it, scratching the bottom of the pot to get all
the flavors §
Add
a glass of dry white wine and let it boil 1 minute to eliminate the alcohol §
Add
all the rendered water recuperated from the lobster §
Ass
a few ladles of the court-bouillon in order to cover all the shells §
Simmer,
lid on, for around 1 hour §
Pour
the whole content of the pot, including the shells (this is the secret of a
genuine bisque), with the exception of the toughest parts such as the claws,
and mix the whole in a blender, possibly in two times §
Strain
the mixture obtain first in a large steamer basket or a similar device, then in
a tighter chinois or strainer, press with a wooden pestle (or the back of a ladle)
to extract as much as possible of this tasty broth § Little tip: You may want to keep pitch the shells and the strainer content, and mix it with the rest of the court-bouillon. Later on, after straining of course, it will make a fantastic flavored water to cook pasta or rice for instance. 2nd cooking: §
Simmer
the bisque so obtained to further reduce it §
When
it reaches the right texture, take a ladle of the bisque, mix it with the tomalley
and the coral, and reintroduce it in your bisque. You will see that the
bisque starts to turn orange/red, depending on whether you have coral or not. §
Normally,
the classical bisque recipe calls for tomato purée and/or tomato paste.
Personally, I am not a fan. But if there was no, or not enough, coral in your
lobster, this will contribute to make your bisque more “orange/red”. My
little tip here is to use a couple of tbsp. of achiote instead of this tomato
“stuff”, but once again, this is a personal choice. §
If
you have lumps after you add the tomalley/coral (the reaction is similar to
blood coagulating in a meat sauce), just mix the whole bisque with an
immersion blender. §
Let
it simmer 5 or 10 more minutes, stirring it up regularly. You should obtain a
relatively thick and creamy texture §
Adjust
the seasoning, pepper and only here salt if needed, and why not, they go well
together, some curry, saffron... or Kari Gosse §
Add
either a (generous) tablespoon of butter or 2 tbsp. of crème fraîche, depending
on your preferences, and gently stir up the bisque out of the burner §
You
can also use an immersion blender to create some foam on the surface, and
serve as is in a bowl, with few herb leaves or edible flowers, and possibly,
but once again, this is just optional, some the claws and tail medallions
that you will have, for instance, poached for 2 or 3 minutes in the bisque |
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